Malaya Akulukjuk facts for kids

Malaya Akulukjuk was an amazing Inuit artist. She drew pictures inspired by her life as a shaman and the spiritual beliefs of the Inuit people. Her art often showed people changing into animals.

Malaya was born around 1915. She lived a traditional Inuit life in a camp called Qikiqtat in Nunavut. In 1962, she moved to Pangnirtung on Baffin Island. Malaya started her art career later in life, at age 51.

In 1969, the Canadian government opened the Pangnirtung Weave Shop. This shop aimed to create an art industry in the community. Malaya's drawings were used as designs for woven tapestries. Other artists at the shop helped turn her drawings into beautiful woven art. Many of Malaya's artworks were inspired by her memories of traditional life, like camping and family gatherings. Others came from her imagination, featuring mystical creatures.

A large collection of Malaya's drawings traveled to art shows all over Canada. Some of her famous pieces, like Inuit Ways (1979) and Hunting Polar Bears with Harpoon (1982), are displayed in the National Gallery of Canada. You can also find her art in various museums across the country. Her art was very important for developing Inuit weaving because it showed old Inuit life and shamanism.

Early Life and Family

Malaya Akulukjuk was born in Quikitat Camp, which used to be a whaling station. She got married when she was twenty years old. In Inuit society, marriages were often arranged. This helped make sure that all adults could find partners.

Malaya became a mother to thirteen children! Even when she was pregnant, she continued to hunt and spend time on the land. She sometimes even carried a baby in her hood while hunting. In 1960, she moved to Pangnirtung with her husband and children.

Malaya's husband, Nutaralaq Akulukjuk, was also an artist. He was a sculpture artist. Many of their children also became artists in Pangnirtung. Her daughter, May Lonsdale, became a graphic artist.

Pioneer Artist at the Pangnirtung Tapestry Studio

For many centuries, the Inuit people of the Canadian Arctic lived a nomadic life. This meant they moved around often, living off the land. In the 1960s, the Canadian government helped the Inuit move into permanent settlements. To help with this big change, the government funded art and craft programs.

A weaving company from Montreal started a special weaving program in Pangnirtung. In 1970, a manager and three women arrived to teach weaving. The women quickly learned how to hand-weave and use looms. They made things like sashes, hats, and blankets. The Inuit women already knew a lot about weaving. Missionaries had taught them finger weaving in the 1930s and 40s. Also, traditional Inuit culture involved making clothes and tools from natural materials.

The weaving program was very successful. Queen Elizabeth II even visited Iqualuit and was given a blanket from the Pangnirtung Weave Shop. The manager remembered the Queen saying how cold it was. She put the blanket on right away!

At first, the small items they sold didn't make enough money. Also, the items didn't have a unique "Inuit look" that customers wanted. So, the program leaders decided to make woven wall hangings, also called tapestries. These would be more profitable. To make the tapestries, they needed original Inuit drawings.

The manager gave paper and pens to elders in the community, asking if they wanted to draw. Malaya Akulukjuk was one of the first artists discovered. She was 51 years old. Her drawings helped set the style for the art shown on the tapestries. Other artists included Annie Pitsiuluk and Elisapee Ishulutak. The first show of Pangnirtung tapestries was in Montreal in 1971. All 23 tapestries were sold!

The Pangnirtung Weave Shop later moved into the Uqqurmiut Inuit Artists Association Centre. This center brought together the print shop, tapestry studio, and a craft gallery. The art programs helped Inuit people connect their traditional life with their new lives in settlements. Art became a source of cultural identity and pride, and also helped people earn money.

Works and Shamanism

In Inuit culture, women often had important roles in spiritual matters. Malaya Akulukjuk was known as a shaman in her community, even if she didn't openly say it. Shamans are people with special powers. They can connect the spirit world with the human world. They have helping spirits that assist them with special tasks.

In Inuit beliefs, a shaman can keep the spirits happy by using her unique abilities. These include seeing things others can't and controlling animal spirits. Shamanism is based on the idea that a helping spirit can live in every being. These spirits often appear as birds or polar bears.

In her drawings, Malaya acted like an "artist as shaman." She showed her connection to the spirit world. Her art is full of animals that change forms and supernatural beings. Her spirit figures came from her imagination and stories she heard as a child.

For example, Malaya's 1972 drawing Oalopalik shows a helping spirit. An Inuit elder confirmed that this spirit was a bird that acted as the shaman's eyes. In Inuit beliefs, such a spirit could fly far away and tell the shaman what it saw.

Later in her career, Malaya started drawing more complex scenes with many characters. These works still showed her shamanistic beliefs. Her 1977 drawing Two Bears with Skin Frame shows two polar bear spirits. These spirits are seen as bear people. They hunt like the Inuit but live in a different dimension, sometimes inside a paddle or a rock. In this drawing, they are stretching an animal skin, perhaps to make clothes.

Malaya's other drawings show people interacting with birds. They also show animal spirits living alongside humans in the Inuit landscape. In Lady with Birds (1977), a girl plays with a bird she might have tamed. The girl's hairstyle shows she is not yet married. This drawing highlights the close bond between humans and animal spirits. This reflects Malaya's shamanistic practices, as she had personal connections with these spirits.

In Malaya’s Story (1981), Inuit people and animal spirits are shown in the same space. Community members prepare for hunting and storing food. Meanwhile, a goose spirit moves in its own way. Malaya, as a shaman, showed how everyday life and the spiritual world exist together.

Community Life in Art

The first artists at the Pangnirtung Tapestry Studio, like Malaya Akulukjuk, were mostly elders. They had lived a traditional Inuit life. Malaya grew up in a whaling station and was a nomadic hunter in her early years. When she became an artist, she saw drawing as a way to share her knowledge of "true Inuit life" with younger generations.

After moving to settlements, drawing helped Malaya fulfill her role as an elder. In the Tapestry Studio, young weavers learned about the Inuit past. They did this by turning the elders' drawings into tapestries.

Some writers have called the art of Inuit elders "memory art." The elders wanted to tell stories of the past and traditional lifestyles. They worried about losing their identity to Western culture. Malaya loved using her imagination and memories to show Inuit life from her youth. She also drew natural landscapes with tiny human or animal figures.

Many of her drawings show traditional Inuit community life. The 1981 tapestry Malaya’s Story showed how the Inuit used whale bodies to store food and make tools. They also used sled dogs for travel and carried weapons when hunting. Another painting, Children at Summer Camp (1980), showed Inuit living in sealskin tents during summer. A young couple lived in a smaller tent, while an older couple had a bigger tent with a wooden door. The wooden door showed the older couple had high status, perhaps as important hunters. Wood was very precious in Inuit society.

Malaya's drawings also showed her knowledge of the land and wildlife. Some of her drawings were pure landscapes of old Inuit territories. These include Spring Breakup (1995), Camp Site (1995), and Inukshuk Trail (1995). She made these drawings at the end of her life. She wanted to go back to these campsites but couldn't. These drawings show her strong feelings and lasting memories of the old Inuit lands.

Other drawings showed only animals, like Galloping Caribou (1994) and Playful Narwhales (1980). These animals were common in Inuit lands. They were also important food sources for the community's survival.

Artists and Weavers Working Together

Making tapestries in Pangnirtung was always a team effort. It combined the skills of two groups: the artists who drew the pictures and the weavers. One artist would create the drawing. Then, another artist at the weaving shop would turn that drawing into a tapestry.

The tapestry artist chose the colors for the final product. They usually didn't discuss this with the drawing artist. This is because weavers were thought to know more about using colors effectively. Many of Malaya's drawings were made into tapestries by different weavers. The final tapestries often had different colors, sizes, and proportions than her original drawings.

For example, her drawing Children at Summer Camp (1980) was originally made with black and brown pen. But the tapestry artist, Kawtysee Kakee, added rich, bright colors. The original drawing had clear lines, showing children doing daily activities like making tea and cooking meat. In the tapestry, the surface became softer, and the food details were less clear. The tapestry artist focused on blending soft wool colors with lighter threads. This created a warm, glowing evening light. This natural light gave the image a sense of time and a beautiful, nostalgic feeling.

Malaya's drawing, Spring Break (1995), was made with colored pencils. It showed mountains, valleys, and ice fields lit by the rising sun. Malaya used soft colors like light yellow, blue, and white. These colors created a dreamy feeling, like a paradise from her memory. Compared to the original drawing, the tapestry version added more layers and depth. It used bright colors and made the mountains look sharp and impressive.

Exhibitions Around the World

Malaya Akulukjuk's artworks have been shown in galleries all over Canada. These include the National Gallery, the Inuit Gallery of Vancouver, and the University of Alberta. Her art even traveled overseas to places like the Jerusalem Artists House Museum.

Two of Malaya's works, Inuit Ways (1979) and Hunting Polar Bears with Harpoon (1982), are displayed in the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa. The Heffel Gallery, a famous art auction house in Canada, sells Malaya's works. They also sell tapestries made by weaver Agah Etooangat, which are based on Malaya's drawings.